Means for starting alternate-current mercury-vapor lamps.



MEANS FOR STARTING ALTERNATE CURRENT MERGURY VAPOR LAMPS. APPLICATIONFILED MAY 23, 1910.

1,101,197, Patented June 23, 1914.

W'rtm esses lm/enbor" 4 :C Richar d Kiich by MM M l-lisu fttornegRICHARD Kfl'CI-I, or nurse. seminar, ASSIGNQR,

y Justin. ass enntnnrs, 'ro

GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CQRPORATION, OF NEW YORK.

MEANS ro'n STARTING At'i'En-NATE-CURR'ENT MERCURY-VAPOR LAMPS.

erotica.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 23, 1914.

Application filed. May 23, 1910. Serial No. 562,975.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD Kt'iou, a|

subiect of the German Emperor. and resident of Hanan o. M.', Germany,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for StartingAlternate-(lurreut Mercury-Vapor Lamps, of which the following is aspecification.

lllercury vapor rectifiers are known in which both cathodes and anodesare of mercury. In these the starting. by tilt.1ng the apparatus.presents no dltficulties, as the anodes are close to the cathode sothat, on tilting the apparatus. one of the anodes is brought immediatelyinto temporary contact with the cathode and the arc can he struckwithout difficulty and without the use of an auxiliary anode as requiredwith stationary anodes. In mercury vapor lamps however in which thecathode and anodes are of inercury, the case is different, as, owing tothe. nature of the lamps, the anodes must be arranged at a considerabledistance from the cathode in consequence of a long illuminating tubebeing necessary for the production (if the arc. If it be desired tostart such lamps in the same way as the aforesaid rectifiers, that iswithout an auxiliary anode, it is necessary to cause the mercury to runfrom the anodes to the cathode or vice versa, to give the lamp a tiltingmotion which causes the mercury to run from the anodes, or from one ofthe anodes. to the cathode and back again therefrom this latter methodbeing generally used as, for the proper working of the lamp. care mustbe taken that the mercury shall always be in the proper proportion atboth the anodes and cathode. In this case, the difficulty is that thethin line of mercury which temporarily connects the anodes with thecathode. often causes a short circuit between the anodes when thisconnection is removed. so that the arc cannot be formed, or so that,after the formation of the arc. the thin line of mercury which returnsto the anodes meets, at the same time, several interconnected anodes andthe are which has been started is extinguished. I have found that thesefailures to start the lamps can be prevented if, by suitable placementof the anode vessels, or by suitable arranged partitions, the thin lineof mercury be constrained to distribute itself in such a manner that isimpossible for a short circuit to occur between the anodes when the thinline of mercury is broken a t'ter the arc is formed. Three examples ofsuch an arrangement are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and forthe sake of simph ty it is presumed that there are only two anodes, thatis that a single phase alternating current is used, to work the lamp. Inthese drawings, A and A are the two anode vessels. K is the cathodevessel, and L is the illuminating tube. The said tube has, in theposition of rest. a slight inclination toward the cathode and forms twobranches at the anodes.

In Figure 1, the anode vessel A. lies lower than the anode vessel A,. Ifthe lamp be attached to an axis, as shown in the figure. and this axisbe turned in the direction of the arrow, the vessel A, is raised to suchan extent that some mercury flows out of it to the cathode, whilemercury cannot run out from the vessel A,. In this way short-circuit-ingbetween the mercury in the vessels A and. A, is avoided when the thinline of mercury is broken. On. account of the unsymmetrical position ofthe anode vessels, on tilting the lamp back into its normal position,the mercury flows back again toward the vessel A without shortcircuiting taking place between the mercury in the vessels A and A InFig. 2 the anode vessels are. symmetrically arranged with respect to theilluminating tube. In this case also, on tilting the lamp, mercury flowsfrom the vessel. A, only. The receding thin line of mercury returningsimultaneously to both anode vessels would however conductively connectthe two anodes and the are formed would be extinguished. In order toavoid this, a partition V, is provided which causes the mercury to flowentirely to the vessel. A by closing the path toward the vessel A,.

In Fig. the rotatable axis is so situated that, on tilting the lamp, themercury runs simultaneously from both anode vessels. The longpartitionwall S, which extends along the length of the tube howeverdivides the lower half of the illuminating tube so that the flow ofmercury from the anodes,

takes place in two separate lines, and, when these ets are broken, noshort-circuitlng can occur between the anodes. The return of the mercuryto the anodes likewise takes place in two lines separated from eachother.

Although my inventionhas been described between the anodes.

with reference to a device using single phase alternating current and,therefore, having but two anodes, it will of course be iinderstood thatthe invention is not limited to apparatus of any particular number ofphases.

I claim:

1. The combination with an alternating current mercury vapor devicehaving a plurality of anode chambers and adapted to be tilted to causemercury to flow to and from the anode chambers to start the device, ofmeans for preventing the mercury from forming a short circuit betweentwo anodes.

2. An alternating current mercury vapor lamp adapted to be tilted tocause the mercury to flow longitudinally of the illuminating tube to andfrom its anode end when it is being lighted and having two anodechambers, and a partition providing two separated passages connectingthe tube with the anode chambers and positively preventing the mercuryfrom forming a short circuit 3. An alternating current mercury vaporlamp adapted to be tilted to cause the mercury to flow longitudinally ofthe illuminating tube to and from its anode end when it is being lightedand having two anode chambers, and a partition extending longitudinallyof the interior of the illuminating tube and providing two separatedpassages conl meeting the tube with the anode chambers, for the purposedescribed.

4. A vapor electric device comprising a liquid metal cathode, aplurality of anodes and means for guiding a stream of liquid metal fromthe cathode to one of the anodes and directing said stream away from theother anode.

5. An alternating current "apor electric lamp comprising a mercurycathode, a plurality of anodes located side by side 0 posite saidcathode, and means for gui mg a stream of mercury to one anode to theexclusion of the other anode to start the lamp.

6. A mercury vapor electric lamp,'comprising an envelop, a. mercurycathode at one end of said tube, and a plurality of anodes at theopposite end of said tube, and means for assisting a stream of mercuryflowing lengthwise the envelop to contact with one anode prior toanother anode whereby an arc may be started between the cathode and saidanode before a short-circuit can occur between anodes. I

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

DR. RICHARD Kt'ioH. 'Witnesses FRANZ HAssLAoEeR, ERWIN DIPPELY.

